Fire destroys home in Wabush

Firefighters chaplain Lt. Norm Porter talks with firefighters to see what assistance he can give at the scene of a house fire in Wabush on Feb. 14. - Photo by Mike Power

WABUSH, N.L. —

Firefighters arrived at the scene of a house fire in Wabush at 6:30 A.M. Thursday morning, and at 2:30 that afternoon they were still attending the blaze.

Initially about 30 firefighters from Wabush and the nearby town of Labrador City responded to fight the blaze located on Anderson Avenue.

The fire started in the end unit of a four unit building.

When speaking to the Aurora at 2:30 p.m. Wabush Fire chief Marv Butler said they would probably be spraying the home for several more hours.

Firefighters at scene of house fire in Wabush eight hours after they arrived.

“One of the things they did was to evacuate residents near the fire as flames and smoke near other homes were a worry,” he said.

Butler said he was unsure as to what damage was done to the other three units that are part of the building. Two of them were apparently unoccupied.

RNC officers were at the scene as well. Police put out an advisory asking people to stay away from the scene of the fire so firefighters wouldn’t be impeded from doing their job.

Cold temperatures of -15 and a wind chill of near -30 made for trying conditions to fight the blaze. The firefighters are cold, but they are coping. Butler added there were no injuries to any of the firefighters.

A spokesperson for the RNC, Cst. James Cadigan say there were no injuries to any of the occupants or the people evacuated from surrounding homes. He says there is a fire investigator at the RNC detachment in Labrador West and the investigation is ongoing.

There was no estimate of damage or probable cause of the fire so far.

Meanwhile, Lt. Norm Porter of the Salvation Army, the fire chaplain in the area was on hand.

“We check with the fire chief, and firefighters to see if they need anything like food,” he said.

He says they also checked with some of the people evacuated from their homes and offered them shelter or any assistance they may need.